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As the first African American woman to have a play professionally
produced in New York City (Gold Through the Trees, in 1952) and the
first woman to win an Obie for Best Play (for Trouble in Mind, in
1956), Alice Childress occupies an important but surprisingly
under-recognized place in American drama. She herself rejected an
emphasis on the pioneering aspects of her career, saying that "it's
almost like it's an honor rather than a disgrace" and that she
should "be the fiftieth and the thousandth by this point"--a remark
that suggests the complexity and singularity of vision to be found
in her plays. Childress worked as an actress before turning to
playwriting in 1949, and she was a political activist all of her
life.
Spanning the 1940s to the 1960s, the plays collected here are the
ones Childress herself believed were her best, and offer a
realistic portrait of the racial inequalities and social injustices
that characterized these decades. Her plays often feature
strong-willed female protagonists whose problems bring into harsh
relief the restrictions faced by African American women. This is
the first volume devoted exclusively to the work of a major
playwright whose impact on the American theater was profound and
lasting.
Benjie can stop using heroin anytime he wants to. He just doesn't want to yet. Why would he want to give up something that makes him feel so good, so relaxed, so tuned-out? As Benjie sees it, there's nothing much to tune in for. School is a waste of time, and home life isn't much better. All Benjie wants is for someone to believe in him, for someone to believe that he's more than a thirteen-year-old junkie. Told from the perspectives of the people in his life-including his mother, stepfather, teachers, drug dealer, and best friend-this powerful story will draw you into Benjie's troubled world and force you to confront the uncertainty of his future.
For Black writers, what is tradition? What does it mean to them
that Western humanism has excluded Black culture? Seven noted Black
writers and critics take up these and other questions in this
collection of original essays, attempting to redefine humanism from
a Black perspective, to free it from ethnocentrism, and to enlarge
its cultural base. Contributors: Richard K. Barksdale, Alice
Childress, Chester J. Fontenot, Michael S. Harper, Trudier Harris,
George E. Kent, R. Baxter Miller
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